The Homecoming
by UnKnownSalvation
Summary: It's Gumball's freshman year and homecoming is coming up. After an incident that happened last year, can Gumball make this homecoming worth the problems he has to go through just to get there or will it just be too much trouble for too little? And what is Tobias up to? Can Gumball stop him or will he succeed in his plan? GumballXCarrie! You like it! You know you do!
1. Pep Talk

**A/N My Name is UnKnownSalvation (call me Sal) and I'm trying something new: A TAWOG STORY!**

**Let me explain the rules of this: 2 years later then the show so Gumball is a freshman in high school. The Spirit Week is going to flow the same way my school does it so bear with me if your school does/did something different…also I kind of deshelled Penny…why? Because that thing annoys me for some reason and to explain why I would need 1000 words to describe my pet peeve with this thing!**

**Let us see how I do…**

_**The Homecoming**_

_**Ch.1 Pep Talk**_

**Friday October 10****rd**** 15 days till the dance…**

_***Beep…Beep…Beep…***_

Gumball Watterson awoke to the sound of his obnoxious alarm clock, wishing he didn't have to go to school that day. His brother/goldfish awoke to the sound and stretched with a yawn. Darwin Watterson got out of his bed as he couldn't fit in the fishbowl anymore as he and Gumball grew a good six inches over the last two years.

"Good morning Gumball!" Gumball just rolled over in his bed.

"_***grunt***_ Good night… _***yawn* **_I need a bit more sleep…"

Darwin picked up a clothes hanger and began to jab it into the right side of Gumball's back.

"Time… to… get… up!"

"ow… ow…Ow…OW! What are you poking me with?!" Gumball see's the hanger "Why are you poking a clothes hanger into my kidney?!

"Because you won't get up!" Darwin looked like he was getting annoyed with Gumball.

"Ugh…Fine…"

"Yay I win!" Gumball got out of bed and headed over to his closet. Since Junior High he has changed what he wore to school. He now wore a red and gray zip up hoodie with the inside of his hood light red with a dark blue t-shirt underneath and wore baggy black pants. He still didn't wear shoes having never cared for them.

Darwin now wore a blue jeans and purple shoes as he seemed to take a liking to the color.

"Why are you so grumpy? Is it because homecoming is coming up? Are you STILL mad about what happened last year at the dance when our class got a spot on the homecoming court and got to go?" Gumball sighed.

"I was humiliated last year… right in front of Penny no less! And the only reason you didn't get tar, feathered, and hung up by your underwear was because you were on the homecoming court with Masami and Rachel was there to save you! Everyone else just ran as hard as they could and somehow got away! All because I didn't know what was going on…"

"So maybe this year will be different! They'll be too busy dealing with the eighth graders to worry about us! Besides they haven't bullied us in a while!"

"Tell that to my butt on the first day of school…"

"Oh yeah… how long did it take them to catch us?"

"About six hours after we figured out what they were planning… We were so close!"

"Yeah… so close yet so very far…"

"Anyway I doubt me going to school is going to help me feel better about homecoming."

"Well they pick the reps today… maybe it'll be you and Penny!"

"Yeah! Like I'll get that lucky…"

"You'll never know until you go to school. Now let's go get breakfast."

Gumball and Darwin walked down stairs to see their six year old sister Anais. Anais was a cute little pink rabbit who over the last two years has grown a bit; about two-three inches and was now wearing a lime green dress and yellow shoes.

"Morning Anais" The boys say to their sister, both in different tones.

"Morning guys. What's wrong Gumball?"

"Homecoming is coming up."

"Ah. Still mad about the "underwear chicken" incident are we?"

"You know it!" Gumball said in a fake happy tone.

"I don't know why you're still mad about this… it was revenge for what Banana Joe did…"

"…That had a million views in less than a week…!" Gumball prepared his cereal.

"Maybe they thought you had helped…"

"I wasn't even in the same room!" Gumball said as he ate his cereal.

"This year will be different but if you keep acting like your life sucks than you might as well just forget about getting anywhere with Penny!" That struck a chord in Gumball but it didn't anger him but gave him a reason to want to be optimistic.

"You're right!"

"I know!"

"Darwin, the reps are getting picked today right!"

"Yeah!"

"Then if Penny gets picked to be a rep, then I will be the one to get picked to escort her!"

"That's the spirit!"

"Morning family!" Gumball's overweight pink rabbit dad came down stairs in his usual attire. He looked as if he was going to work but the hardest thing he ever had to do was find the remote when it gets lost through the sofa cushions. Richard was followed by his wife Nicole, a blue cat like Gumball and the only person in the house that really worked.

"What's everyone so happy about?"

"Homecoming is in a few weeks and I'm gonna try to be the rep for my class!"

"Wow that's great honey! I'm glad you've gotten over last year!"

"Yeah… I didn't think underwear could stretch that far…" Richard said, showing just how oblivious of the feelings of those around him sometimes.

"Anyway I'm proud that you're going to try to represent your class." Nicole looked at the clock on the wall. "Oh I'm gonna be late! Bye everyone!"

"Bye Mom!"

"Bye Honey!"

"Speaking of being late, we should probably head for the bus stop."

"Yeah ok!" Gumball, Darwin, and Anais got their stuff together and head to the bus stop where Gumball's day truly starts…

_"Today is gonna be awesome… I hope…"_

**A/N Short but I need to establish some things… are we forgetting anything? I feel like I'm forgetting something... Oh well! Someone will tell me eventually!**

**Anyway if you like it then: review, fav, follow, VOTE for the poll on my profile, and all that good stuff and I'll see you guys next time! Sal out!**


	2. Stolen

**A/N Sal Here and he knows just what you want!**

**Saw "Halloween" and I could say a lot about it but I will say that I did enjoy watching it. Not my favorite and I'm not too pleased with the writers breaking their own lore but if they can do it, so can I! What do I mean by that? I gave Carrie the physical form of my favorite animal!**

**You've probably by now noticed the summary change and me scraping the picture I had up there. Right now I can hear the readers going "What are you up to Sal?"**

**You'll see soon enough but enough about me… what about Gumball?! Be aware... I use big words...**

_**Ch.2 Stolen**_

Gumball and Darwin continued to walk to their new bus stop after walking with Anais to hers to go to grade school. They arrive early as usual due to their new bus driver being as unpredictable as Gumball himself. They see their friend Carrie by the bus stop waiting. Ever since summer vacation, Carrie was given her life again… although not in her original form but that's another story for another time. She was now a white wolf but her nose was shorter than other wolfs. She now wore a gray sweater that covered her hands a bit with black jeans and gray shoes. She was just a little shorter then Gumball was. The only thing that made her seem like the old Carrie was her hairclip and her hair covering her left eye.

"Hey Carrie! You're early!"

"Hey Gumball…Darwin." Carrie's greeting to Darwin was emotionless.

"Still sore about our breakup huh…"

"It's only been a week so yeah Darwin… I'm a little sore with you… Girls like me can hold grudges for a while…"

"That's fair I guess…"

"I was actually surprised. You two seemed happy together!"

"Yeah but the fact that Darwin could fall for any chick in a dress just made it impossible for me to stay with him. Though it was a good solid eight week run…"

"I can change if you could consider giving me another chance…"

"I believe you could but I'm not going to give you anything right now… I just want to clear my head right now and focus on my new chance at life. Don't forget I'm still not used to having a body…"

"Still? It's you think with all the times you possessed my dad just so you could binge plus the ten weeks of being alive now that you would be used to it by now."

"Maybe but for right now I just want to enjoy being alive…" Carrie said as she lied down on the bench. As the rest of their friends arrived so did the bus as they all took off for the school. The first person he saw was the girl of his dreams, Penny. For about a year now, Penny hadn't been the antlered peanut she used to be as her shell one day got destroyed and landed her in the hospital. She was not a peanut… she was a deer. But to Gumball that just made him want her more. She now wore a bright orange cheerleader's outfit as the football team was playing today and she was on the cheerleading squad… but only just. She was also a bit taller then Gumball but only by an inch or two.

"Hey Gumball!"

"Hey Penny!" Gumball had gotten better at not letting his feelings for Penny overwhelm him as he waved back to Penny and sat down with Darwin.

Darwin and Gumball sat in silence with each other.

"Darwin, you ok man?" Gumball had to break the silence of his friend or it would drive him crazy.

"Yeah I'll be fine!" Gumball wasn't convinced. Gumball raised an eyebrow at the fish. "Maybe I'm not ok…"

"Dude… you've been staring at your feet for five minutes straight… You are not ok."

"Yeah…"

"Carrie?"  
"Carrie."

"Dude, it's not the end of the world if she dumps you."

"Like you would know… When's the last time you went out with someone?"

"Good point. But I thought you were ok with you two not being a couple."

"I did too… till ten minutes ago…"

They arrive at school and head for their homeroom class and sit down wait for their first announcement.

"Good morning class." Their teacher was a talking peach whose name was ironically enough, Mr. Peitch **(Pronounced Peach)**. Now first things first, I'm to explain how the reps of Homecoming are to be elected. The females will vote for theirs… while the males will compete for theirs." Every male in the room was confused by what Peitch meant… until he pulled out an orange flag. "Whoever has this flag at three o'clock will be the rep for this class. I'm gonna pull a name out of this hat to see who starts with the flag…" He grabs the hat that was sitting on his desk and pulls out a name… "Joe will start with the flag!" Peitch said as he handed Banana Joe the flag.

Gumball needed to make sure that he had the flag and Penny gets elected… but needed help.

"Carrie… can you help me?" Gumball whispered.

"Sure what?"

"I need you to make sure Penny gets elected…" Carrie seemed to look away briefly but at no one in particular. She looked down… although Gumball was too wrapped up in his plan to notice.

"Sure… I think I can do that…"

"Ok thanks! Darwin…"

"Yeah bro?"

"I need your help to get that flag and keep it…"

"You can count on me!"

"Thanks."

_***Ring* **_the bell rang to go to the first real class but one person was still in his desk… and that was Tobias. "So that's their plan huh… Nows my chance to take Penny from him…"

The day turned into a madhouse of destruction. Though the entire class wasn't in on the fight for the flag… the masters of disaster were. Gumball, Darwin, Leslie strangely as well was in on this, Tobias, Joe, and weirdly enough Bobert was also in this. That's only because since he got struck by lightning and grew a personality… Bobert was less of a walking, talking trash can and more of an actual person.

The flag switched hands quite frequently. Mostly because if you to fend off one person… another came up behind you and swiped it from your hands and then ran away to put distance between them and the chaos behind them.

With twenty minutes to three, right now the holder was Bobert… and he was in defense mode. Everyone (minus Tobias as he was hiding behind a wall like the pansy that he was) was working on how to take him out of the equation until Bobert stepped into a puddle that the janitors made when trying to clean the floors and short circuited. Darwin took the flag for the first time and ran around the corner with Gumball. While no one was looking, Darwin gave the flag to Gumball and they ran in different directions to throw them off. Of course everyone believed Darwin had the flag as he ran away.

With time running down to a five minute warning, Gumball had found his way to where no one could find him. Though he wasn't sure where he was…

"_Just got to stay out of sight and wait till the buzzer sounds… and I win. But what if it isn't Penny… Carrie said she'd do what she could to get Penny elected. Let's hope she can do…"_

_***THUD***_

As Gumball was thinking and not looking where he was going, a door opens fast and the handle knocks him for a loop. Even being as resilient as Gumball was, the handle managed to floor him and his vision started to fade… but not before he could make out the face of Tobias…

"Poor, Poor Gumball… looks like Penny's gonna be dancing with someone else… sorry but that's life."

Tobias grabbed the flag and dragged Gumball to a locker. He shoved him into the locker and then locked it to prevent Gumball from appearing at the rep announcement ceremony. "Goodbye Gumball…"

Gumball awoke sometime later to the sound of the locker opening. He opened his eyes to see Darwin's, Carrie's, and Penny's shocked faces.

"Gumball, there you are… why are you in my locker?"

"To-Tobias… he-he hit me with a door handle… and stole the flag…" Carrie's face got serious as she helped Gumball out. Penny covered her mouth as she gasped as Darwin was in disbelief.

"So he threw you in here to get rid of you?" Gumball could only nod as he nearly fell over from being as woozy as he fell towards Penny who caught him.

"Dude he hit you hard... You got a bruise on your forehead the size of a baseball…" Darwin said as he saw the giant purple spot on Gumball's head.

"What time is it? What did I miss?" They fell silent until Carrie spoke up.

"Its five-thirty and you missed Tobias winning… and he's going to the homecoming with… Penny…" Gumball was now fully awake and aware… but he was also depressed as he looks at a sad Penny.

"We should probably get home before someone kicks us out…"

"Were you guys here all day looking for me?"

"Yeah you just disappeared and we started to worry. We missed the bus so we go looking for you."

"We were about to leave when we finally found you because we thought you probably just went home." Carrie said as she grabbed her bag from her locker.

"I have to go get ready for tonight. Gumball, will you be there?"

"I don't know but right now I don't really want to go to anything in public after what happened… Right now I want to go home…"

"Ok. I'll see you guys later…" Penny said as she was a little sad but she understood.

"I'll walk with you guys. It's not like I have anything better to do."

"Thanks Carrie…"

The three walked home in silence, baffled at what transpired to Gumball. Their plan to get both Gumball and Penny elected as reps so they could dance together… was singlehandedly stolen by Tobias.

()()()()()Time Lapse()()()()()

Gumball and Darwin arrived home around seven. They waved goodbye to Carrie and went inside to see Anais sitting on the couch.

"How did it go?"

"I… lost…" Gumball said as he continued up to his room.

"Lost what? What happened to Gumball?"

"They had a challenge where whoever had a flag at the end of the school day would be the rep… Tobias stole it in the last minutes but hitting Gumball with at door…" Anais couldn't believe the level Tobias went to win.

"How could they allow that?!"

"They didn't know about it because after he knocked out Gumball, he stuck him into a locker. Me, Carrie and Penny had to help him out."

"That's not fair! We have to make him pay!"

"Yeah, but how?"

"Leave that to me. Just make sure Penny and Carrie come over to help tomorrow. I'm sure they would love nothing more than to help. But for now you should try to cheer Gumball up."

"Right, I'll do my best!" As Darwin salutes Anais, he goes up stairs to check on his bro.

Gumball just seems to get screwed over at every turn. He was that close to being able to dance with Penny at homecoming… but Tobias had to cheat to win. Gumball just wanted to lie in his bed and sleep it off. Maybe his fortune would change tomorrow… but in his mind it wasn't bloody likely.

"Gumball?"

"Let me sleep Darwin… I don't want to talk…" Gumball response was stern.

"Hey man cheer up! Tomorrow Me, you, Anais, Carrie and Penny are gonna get back at Tobias!" Gumball couldn't help but smile at the thought of getting his hands on Tobias.

"Ok… I'll think about it but right now… I just want to sleep…

"Gotcha. I'll leave you to your thoughts."

**Later that night… Gumball's dream…**

_************background chatter and music ************_

_**Penny and Gumball are dancing at the homecoming…**_

"…_**I love you Gumball…So why don't you love me…?" The question startled him.**_

"_**I DO love you!"**_

"_**No you don't… YOU LOVE HER!" Penny voice turned demonic as she faded from existence… leaving only a silhouette in the distance. **_

"AHHH!"

"Gumball, what's wrong?!" Gumball thought it best not to talk about it.

"Nothing… just a little shock… that's all.

"Okay bro… if you say so."

As Gumball went to lie back down to go back to sleep he played the dream over in his head… trying to think if it meant anything. He soon just disregarded it and went to sleep.

_To Gumball the dream couldn't possible mean anything… could it?_

**A/N You must have a lot of questions:**

"**What is Anais' "evil" scheme?"**

"**What up with Gumball's dream and does it mean anything?"**

"**Why use a door to knock out Gumball?"**

"**Why is Carrie a wolf?"**

**I can answer 1 of these questions right now: Because no one uses a door to knock people out and I think it's a great way to KO people.**

**Also the reason I picked a wolf is because there aren't any wolfs on this show… that I know of anyway and I couldn't use a human because humans don't exist in this world.**

**Also I've added Mystery as the other category simply because it's gonna get a little weird in a few chapters...**

**Till next time:** **review, fav, follow, VOTE for the poll on my profile, and all that good stuff and I'll see you guys next time! Sal out!**


	3. Uh Oh, New Rules

**A/N Sal Here! Feeling pretty good! Found out I'm a good poet… Who would've guessed?!**

**To Gumeri Lover: I'm not going to try and here's why… I barely know anything about Teri… other than she hates getting sick. Sorry but I don't want to have to invent a personality for her… even if that's what I do that a lot. Also I think I know what I want for the ending… but I might be able to squeeze in a small gag with her…**

**Also for those who like music I need something… A Song, with a male and female duet, and is K+ appropriate. I'll listen to them all and we'll go from there!**

**But for now… Time to get Evil! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHA!**

_**Ch. 3 Uh Oh, New Rules…**_

**Saturday Oct. 11****th ****14 days and counting…**

Gumball woke up early by his standards for the weekend. Normally he gets up at around nine. Today he woke up at four in the morning with a massive headache.

"Ugh… what happened… oh yeah…" Looks to his clock. "Strange… why do I feel so awake?" Gumball got out of his bed feeling strangely alert and awake despite the fact that he never got up this early on his own. Gumball went to the bathroom to look at his bruise, still a big purple blob on his head.

"Man… what was that door made of, cement?" He takes a shower and washes his face but when he looked up, the silhouette from his dream appears in the mirror. "WHOA!" He turns around and sees nothing…

"That can't be good…"

After his scare with the mirror, he got dressed and headed for his room… only to be met by a sleepy Darwin.

"Dude why were you yelling?"

"I… Uh… fell?" Darwin wasn't buying it… but thought it best to let it go for now… till it gets disturbingly obvious to more than him. The morning went on with Darwin looking at Gumball out of the corner of his eye, wondering what Gumball is hiding.

Around nine or so, Anais came down to see Gumball and Darwin sitting down on the couch watching TV.

"You two are up early."

"Yeah… strange isn't it…" Darwin said as he looked at Gumball who was staring at the TV. Darwin turned his focus back to Anais. "So what's this plan of yours?"

"First I need you guys to get Penny and Carrie. If we're gonna do anything to Tobias, I'm sure they'd love to help."

"Right I'll call them." Darwin said as he walked by Gumball, zoned out into what he was thinking.

"Gumball I'll need you help to get everything we'll need." Gumball didn't really react much to Anais. He was still focused on that apparition in the mirror this morning. The figure kind of looked familiar…

"Gumball… GUMBALL… **GUMBALL!**"

"HUH WHAT?!"

"Did you hear anything I said?" Anais was getting annoyed.

"Uhh… No."

"Well at least you're honest… Come help me get what we need."

"Ok…"

_***Ring…Ring…Ring…***_

"_Hello?"_

"Carrie?"

"_What is it, Darwin?" _ Carrie's voice showed she was still a little irritated with Darwin

"We need you to come here and bring Penny with you."

"_Why?"_

"It's time Tobias got his real reward…"

"…_We'll be right there."_

"See you soon."

_***Click***_

()()()()()Time Lapse: 1 hour()()()()()

_***Dingdong***_

Darwin went to answer the door and was met by Penny and Carrie. Carrie was wearing a black sweatshirt with black jeans and gray shoes while Penny was wearing a white and orange sweater with blue jeans and tennis shoes.

"Hey girls!"

"Everything ready?"

"More or less. We're just trying to get everything ready."

"How's Gumball doing?" Penny said with worry in her voice.

"You can ask him yourself. But between you and me, I think something's wrong…" Darwin let the girls in as he prepared to explain the morning's events that were strange to him.

"What do you mean?"

"Gumball woke up around one last night screaming and then I hear him from the bathroom and it woke me up. I asked him about it this morning and he's been acting strange since. He got up at four this morning!"

"What do you think's wrong?" Darwin could only shrug before Anais called from the other room.

"Darwin!"

"Come on. We should help Anais." As the walk into the backyard they see a weird assortment of objects. Raw meat, a barrel full of tar, string, a bag full of feathers, paint, and a camcorder.

"So what's the plan?"

"It's pretty simple… today Tobias is going to have a series of events, all connecting to each other… and we're going to film every last second of it and put it on the internet for all to see!"

"Well I don't see any cement blocks in here…"

"Gumball… we're not looking to kill Tobias." Gumball shrugged

"So what is going to happen?"

"We need to get him out of the house for a few hours. Penny that's where you come in."

"What?! No! I will not spend the day with him!"

"Penny… if anyone else goes he'll suspect something's up."

"But if I suddenly want to spend time with him, he'll think I'm leading him to his death!"

"But you're the only one we can count on!"

"Why can't Carrie do it?!"

"Because when people like him go through my locker, I don't exactly sugar coat the beating they receive." That eliminated all the options. Either Penny did it… or their plan is dead before it even got started.

"*sigh* Ok. I'll do my best to keep him away from home."

"Darwin. You keep an eye on Penny." She hands Darwin the camcorder. "If anything happens, record it and bring it back. We can settle for a punishment for authority if we have to."

"Gotcha!"

"Wow… For a six year old… you're an evil little child, aren't you?"

"I try." Anais said with a smile.

"So how are we going to set all this up?"

"First we need Tobias out of the house." The five began to pack up the gear they could carry and headed for Tobias' house. Everyone but Penny hid in the bushes behind the fence where they wouldn't be seen and they could hear everything. They found a hole in the fence to see through.

"You're up, Penny."

"Wish me luck…" Penny couldn't believe she had to basically go on a date with Tobias. Penny walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. Tobias came to the door and looked shocked to see Penny at the door.

"Hey Tobias!" Penny said as she put on the best acting job she could.

"Hey Penny… Why are you here?"

"I just thought that if we're going to be reps together, we might as well get to know each other a bit better." Tobias saw this as a chance to get Penny's affection for himself.

"Really? Ok! I know just the place!" Tobias grabbed Penny by the hand and led her to where he wanted to go. Darwin took off to follow as Gumball, Carrie and Anais got out of the bushes.

"So what's the plan?"

"First we need to be careful of Tobias' dog." The black dog was asleep on the porch.

"Don't worry. He's going to be the most important part. Here's the plan… We set up a string for Tobias to trip on; he'll fall on the steps and then we cover him in tar, feathers and raw meat."

"Then the dog chases after him down the street and we film him getting attacked by his dog."

"Yep! Now help me set up…"

()()()()()()()()()()

The date went about as well as planned. Tobias and Penny went to the park for a little while… all the while being followed by Darwin. They got some ice-cream, and overall it was just a standard day. Penny was doing a pretty good job selling that she was enjoying herself that Darwin probably would've gotten the wrong idea if he didn't know what was going on. Eventually Penny got the text to say everything was ready to go. She waited about an hour before she decided it was time to wrap the day up.

"Hey Tobias. I think I'm good for today. Want to head back?"

"Sure… I think we're out of things to do today anyway."

As Penny and Tobias were walking back to Tobias' house, Tobias realized now was his chance.

"So Penny… Did you enjoy yourself?"

"I did actually. I'm actually surprised how good today went."

"Good enough that I might have earned something…?"

"Hmm… I don't think it was that great." Penny said trying to toy with Tobias… but what happened next… shocked Darwin who was on a nearby roof…

"Too bad." Tobias said coolly as he pulled out a strange laser gun. She shot Penny with it! Darwin was so shocked that he almost forgot he had a camera. As he was filming what was happening before him… he couldn't speak. Penny had stopped dead in her tracks and turned around.

"Now you will obey me completely. Understand?"

"…Yes…" Penny was like a zombie.

"Give me a kiss." Penny leans in and they kiss. "Hmm. Not bad. Now when from this point on, you no longer love Gumball. You love me."

"…Yes…" Darwin had half a mind to stop this… but before he could do anything…

_***Ding***_

A strange man in a black clock had suddenly appeared behind Darwin and proceeded to knock him out with a frying pan.

"Now tell me…. What are our "friends" doing right now?"

"…they set a trap for you at your house…"

"Huh. Looks like your info was correct."

"**Of course it was correct" **The strange man jumped from the rooftop and landed with Darwin in hand... dressed as Tobias himself. **"And I know what we must do now…"**

"While I deal with them, take Penny home."

"**Right. Remember that if we wait too long to destroy Gumball that he'll be the reason we fail…"**

"Penny: Sleep." Penny fell to the ground instantly as Tobias turned to the man. "You don't think I know that!"

"**Just don't screw it up. If Gumball fulfills his part of the prophecy along with the others… then we have lost." **

"I've got it from here, Textegear." Textegear picks up Penny and disappears as quickly as he arrived… leaving a defenseless Tobias-dressed Darwin with the real Tobias… but not before a few words.

"**By the way… Nice acting job you pulled of there."**

"I know right? She never suspected a thing." Textegear disappeared through his portal. Tobias looks to the unconscious Darwin.

"First. Forget everything that has happened" Tobias said as he shot Darwin. "Let's see what your brother is up to, no."

"…Yes…

()()()()()()()()()()

Gumball, Carrie, and Anais were waiting patiently for Tobias and Penny to return. Gumball was ready with the tar that they've painted to match the house… although it was nighttime now so it didn't really matter. Carrie was ready with the feathers and Anais had the raw meat.

"Where are they? Mom by now has to be flipping out that we aren't home…"

"Shh… I think I see him…" Carrie whispered to Gumball. Indeed it was Tobias… sort of.

As "Tobias" walked up to the steps, he tripped on the rope and they let him have it.

Tar, feathers, raw meat, it all fell right on top of "Tobias."

"Darwin, now! Darwin…" but Darwin wasn't where he thought he was.

All of a sudden, Darwin woke up from the trance that he was in and looked around… to see a very hungry dog… and he was dressed as a chicken with raw meat attached to it.

_***Growl* *Lunge* **_

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Wait… is that Darwin…?"

"No… we've been had…" they look to their left to see the video camera with a note saying: "Watch me"

They pressed play on the only footage on the whole camera… of Tobias rubbing their face in their failure… while Darwin in the background is trying to get away from the dog.

"_Ah Gumball my friend. How's your head doing? Fine I'm sure but by now you're wondering how I made your brilliant and oh so original plan to a crashing failure. Well that's for me to know and for you to wonder for the rest of your meaningless existence. That's twice I've outsmarted you… I've have a date with Penny at the Homecoming and now I've stopped you cold. Gumball my friend… why don't you just give up." _Carrie helped Darwin up to the roof. _"Get ready Gumball… because your life you've enjoyed for too long… is about to change before your eyes…"_

All of Gumball's hate was now directly focused on Tobias.

"Gumball…" Darwin stopped panting to speak to his friend. "What happened…?"

Everyone was silent as they went their separate ways towards their homes… but one thing they forgot about…

_Where did Penny go…? and for Gumball... What's going on with his life?_

**A/N … Cliffhangers. You like 'em?**

**Ok show of hands: How many of you are lost?**

**Gumball Prophecy?**

**Textegear?**

**All the other things?**

**All these questions you have and yet… they will be answered… just not now. Looks like the deck is stacked in Tobias' favor… but can our heroes change that?**

**I don't tell the audience what's going on till really late in the story and sometimes that can be beneficial as it makes you wonder what's next. **

**Till next time: review, fav, follow, VOTE for the poll on my profile, and all that good stuff and I'll see you guys next time in Poetry Land! Sal out!**


	4. Message

**A/N Sal Here and things are going pretty well here!**

**Guest: … W-when did these two get considered for a couple? This is the third person to ask for Gumeri... I think. I think I might consider a little tidbit but that's about it… I made a poem about them if you'd like that…**

**Anyway it's time for Gumball to take a ride into the twilight zone…**

_**Ch. 4 Message**_

**Gumball's house: Saturday Night 10:56**

Gumball, Darwin, (Still covered like a chicken) and Anais arrive home to see a fuming Nicole on the pouch heading for her car to come look for them.

"WHERE HAVE YOU THREE BEEN?!" Nicole was in full fury at the trio.

"Yesterday, Tobias hit me with a doorknob to steal the nomination for homecoming court so we went to get back at him…" Nicole looked to Darwin.

"Well I'm just glad you three are ok… but next time you go for revenge… at least leave me a note.

"Yes Mom…"

"So how did it go?" Gumball looked to Darwin

"Ask him." Gumball said as he went inside.

"What happened?"

"Let's just say what happened to me should've happened to Tobias."

"Darwin do you remember anything?" Darwin tried to think but his goldfish memory failed him.

"I was following them… Tobias asked for a kiss… then I'm staring at a dog dressed as a chicken…"

"Well whatever the case, it's time for bed."

"Yes Mom…" Anais was still in disbelief that she was outsmarted.

The trio all got ready for bed and Darwin finally got to take a shower in the yard to wash all the feathers and tar of him.

"Goodnight Anais."

"Goodnight Gumball. Goodnight Darwin." As they all went to bed, there was still one that had difficulty sleeping. Gumball, still affected by Tobias' words and the events of the whole day was just staring at the bunk above him until he was finally able to fall asleep…

_**Gumball's Dream:**_

Gumball woke up in a dark forest, surrounded by the sound of owls and crickets. He began looked around and began to see a pitch black figure in the background.

"_Hello?"_The figure made no sudden moves and continued to stand in the distance, facing the other way. Gumball, against his better judgment began to walk towards the figure but as he was getting closer, the figure faded away.

"_Wait!"_As he reached the spot where the figure was to see that he was on a cliff overlooking Elmore.

"_What's going on?"_Suddenly as he looked up to see a storm overlooking Elmore. As the storm raged he began to see buildings, cars, people all get lifted into the air towards it. Gumball looked on in shock as he all he could see was the town getting destroyed and finally disappear entirely. He closed his eyes and turned away.

"_Get ahold of yourself Gumball. It's just a dream and none of this is real…"_

"_**I wouldn't be so sure of that."**_Gumball's eyes flew open at the sound of this new voice.

"_W-Who's there?!"_Gumball looked all around and saw nothing on the cliff. Then suddenly a bright light appeared, blinding the cat. When he could finally open his eyes he saw a pearly white door in front of him.

"_**Gumball… Come find me… We have much to discuss…"**_Gumball stared at the door.

"_It's only a dream, Gumball. There is no reason to be afraid…"_Gumball walked up to the door and it opened by itself, revealing another brilliant light, again blinding the cat as it walked through.

When Gumball finally could open his eyes he found himself in an all-white room full of floating images and clocks

"_What is this place?"_

"_**Welcome to my home."**_ Gumball turned around to see a pale old monkey **(No humans, right?)** cloaked in a blue robe decorated with clocks.

"_W-who are you?"_

"_**I am the Keeper of Time. I also go by Father Time, Clockwerek, and The Guardian of Time. My job is to overlook the entirety of the space-time continuum."**_

"_Wow… But what do you want with me…?" _Clockwerek grabbed one of the screens and showed it to Gumball. On the screen showed Gumball in different clothes staring down Tobias in a desert.

"_**I need to tell you that your world is in trouble." **_Gumball took his eyes off the image to look back at Clockwerek.

"_What do you mean?"_

"_**Tobias is going to try to destroy your world." **_Gumball's felt like his heart stopped as Clockwerek showed Tobias opening a portal with strange creatures running out.

"W-Why would he want to do that?!"

"_**To ensure your demise. Tobias has been tricked into believing that if he does what he's told to do, he will get everything he could ever want. Unfortunately he isn't aware of the after effects."**_

"_Who is it that's telling him to do this?"_

"_**A man by the name of Textegear who wants to ensure for his bosses that a prophecy is not fulfilled… A prophecy… involving you."**_

"_M-me…?"_

"_**Yes. You are one of six individuals meant to bring an end to a war that has raged for millennia. A war that went on in silence and will know be brought to a cataclysmic end."**_

"_But if I'm destined to help end a war… shouldn't I be safe from dying before that?"_

"_**Normally you would be right. But Textegear has altered the time line to ensure you don't make it that far. This is why I had to break my oath never to interfere with time." **_In the background a giant bell began to ring.

_***Dong…Dong…Dong…Dong…***_

"_**Gumball I must be brief as I won't be able to talk to you again and I'm almost out of time with you. You must stop Tobias before he opens the portal at the homecoming. Watch the moon as it will be a new moon that night… the only night that Tobias can open the portal. You will need the help of a friend. Not like Darwin but a female friend. Use the silhouette you've been seeing to find the other to aid you."**_ The amount of things running through Gumball's head was overwhelming him. He, a coward of a kid, was supposed to save his world from utter destruction… and had only thirteen days left… Not to mention he needed to recruit a girl to help him… and all he has to go on is a silhouette.

"_**One last thing. Don't trust anything Penny tells you from this point on. It will be a lie and will bring your doom before the homecoming even gets here."**_

"_Wait what?!"_

_***Dong…Dong…Dong…Dong…***_

"_**Gumball, forgive me… but from this point on… you're on your own."**_Clockwerek raised his hand and jabbed it forward as he shot a blast of wind throwing Gumball out of the white room and back into his own. Gumball looked around the room and saw nothing but the darkness that he expected from his room. He laid down and began to replay all the events of what just happened.

"_What now? Do I believe him? Do I have a choice at this point? Whatever the case I know this much: Tobias needs to pay!" _With that Gumball looked at his clock to see it was three a.m. so he went back to sleep and decided that he will try to make sense of everything when the sun gets here. Till then… he needed a pleasant dream for once…

**A/N No doubts by now you've noticed that we left sanity at the door.**

**Why did I make this chapter? I needed to show what the stakes are for Gumball… and as you can see… they are high!**

**Now I know you're in the dark about a lot! But I need to keep you in the dark until everything is ready. Till that day:** **review, fav, follow, VOTE for the poll on my profile, and all that good stuff and I'll see you guys next time! Sal out!**


	5. Filling Blanks

**A/N Sal Here with chapter 5 of The Homecoming!**

**Also about the song request, I'm going to extend it to songs that could be sung by either gender. Example: You and Me by Lifehouse.**

**Also for those who didn't know I've started a community! Yay! It's called Writers Unlimited so check it out if you haven't already and also check out all the other members' profiles as they've got some great reads!**

**Marcelinefan: Thanks for the song and yes I know Nicole wouldn't let them off easy… but did you really want 1000 words of a lecture? But I think this makes up for it.**

**CW: Y U SAD?**

**Let's see how our hero is doing eh?**

_**Ch.5 Filling Blanks**_

**Sunday Oct. 13****th**** 5.00 A.M. 13 days out…**

_***Honk***_

"AHHHHHHH!" Gumball and Darwin wake up at the sound of a horn… the horn in Nicole's hand.

"Out of bed right now, you two!" The two scrambled from their beds and stood at attention. "Since I have numerous errands I need done today, you two are going to help me with them. Am I understood?"

"Yes Mom!"

"Yes Mrs. Mom!"

"But what about Anais?"

"Oho she's next…" Nicole walked out of the room and in the distance…

_***Honk***_

Gumball and Darwin both flinched to the sound of the horn and the yelling following it.

"How does Dad sleep through all this?

"We should probably get dressed…"

"Yeah quickly, before she gets back!" The two got dressed as fast as they could and didn't even try to escape as they knew they'd never get very far. As Nicole walked by with Anais she motioned for Gumball and Darwin to follow. They walked downstairs and she pointed towards the couch, obviously telling them to sit on it.

"So this is what's going to happen: I have this list that I want done by the end of today but don't have the time… until now." As Nicole said this, she dropped a list that went from her shoulder to the floor.

_***Gulp* **_All three of them gulped all at once at the size of this behemoth of a job they had today.

"Don't worry." Nicole said with a smile. "This is just the grocery list. THIS is the job list!" This list not only hit the floor, it when past the sofa. Gumball nearly fainted at the sight of this. She rips the list in half and hands the bottom to Darwin. "You two get that half while Anais and I get the other. And if everything on that list isn't done… I'll let your imagination handle that." As Nicole and Anais left the room to do their half of the work, Gumball and Darwin were still trying to catch up. As they begin to actually read the list instead of being in awe of it…

"One: Paint the house… Crap…"

"Mom! Where's the paint?!" Gumball yelled to Nicole in the other room.

"It's outside waiting for you!"

"Ugh… this is gonna suck…" As the two went outside and saw the tower of paint, brushes and a ladder.

()()()()() Three hours later… almost done painting ()()()()()

"Man… I can't even imagine Mrs. Mom doing this all by herself…"

"She's changed ever since she got that promotion last year."

"Yeah but on the bright side: You don't have to wear that sewer sweater anymore! And I now know that pants are awesome!"

"Yeah… true enough."

"Hey guys!" The two stopped to see Carrie looking on. "Why are you two painting the house?"

"This is our punishment for coming home late… this and twenty other things…" Gumball said looking back at the house.

"Well then you shouldn't have gotten in trouble." Gumball and Darwin were not amused.

"You really know how to make people feel better you know that."

"Yeah… Aren't I awesome?" Gumball just noticed something.

"Hey Carrie! Where's Penny?"

"I don't know. She wasn't home." Gumball thought about it for a bit.

"_Why would Penny not be home at eight in the morning?" _Gumball lost this train of thought when Carrie spoke again.

"You dingdongs need any help?" The two couldn't believe it.

"What's this Darwin? The great Carrie offering to do manual labor… Blasphemy!" Carrie couldn't help but chuckle at the Gumball's teasing as they were climbing down the ladder.

"Well if you two don't need my help, I guess I'll just go home."

"Wait!" Darwin said obviously wanting the help.

When Carrie looked back at Gumball and Darwin, Gumball suddenly realized something… As the silhouette he had been seeing flashed in Carrie's place for a split second he realized that the silhouette and Carrie were one in the same.

"_You can't be serious… Why Carrie?"_

"Gumball, you ok?"

"Uh… Yeah!" Gumball wasn't exactly putting on an Emmy winning performance but it seemed to get Carrie to drop the issue.

"_I can think about this later. Right now I should try to look like I'm paying attention."_

"So what's on the to-do list?"

"Two: Mow the front and backyards."

"That shouldn't be too hard!"

()()()()() 30 seconds later…()()()()()

_***VROOM!* *Sounds of screaming children***_

As Gumball and Carrie run from the lawnmower as Darwin is desperately trying to turn off the machine turned bloodthirsty. The gas pedal had gotten stuck to the floor so it was now on an uncontrollable rampage.

"HOW DO YOU STOP THIS THING?!"

"TURN THE KEY!" Darwin looks down.

"WHAT KEY?!" Gumball face palms.

"TRY THE BRAKE!"

"IT DOESN'T WORK!"

As the lawnmower chased Gumball and Carrie through multiple lawns, knocking Mr. Robinson twenty feet and crashing through multiple fences, Gumball and Carrie eventually reached the dead end of an alley.

"You can't be serious!"

_***VROOM!***_

As the lawnmower came screeching towards them, Carrie and Gumball braced for impact with a hug they weren't even aware they were having. But then they could hear the lawnmower slowing down and stop an inch from their heads. They quickly realize what they were doing and break away… with a giant blush on their faces. Darwin didn't seem to notice as he was too busy wondering why he stopped now.

"Huh… Out of gas…"

"Well… at least that's over…" Gumball said out of breath.

"We should probably head back."

"Yeah…" As they were walking back, Gumball and Carrie were trying to avoid direct eye contact as to avoid making it anymore awkward. Darwin was more or less oblivious to this. When they finally arrive home they take one good look at the yard and it just made Gumball laugh.

"Haha… Looks like we need another lawnmower…" The lawn looked like you'd think it would. Lanes of cut grass that look like a drunken person was driving it.

"I got an idea… Let's not and say we did."

"Agreed. What's next?"

"Three: Clear bees nest above backdoor."

"Why bees? Why does it have to be bees?!"

"It shouldn't be that hard!"

()()()()() 2 minutes and 50 bee stings later ()()()()()

"I hate you…" Gumball said as he finally was able to breathe from all the running.

"At least you're not allergic!" Darwin said with an optimistic smile

"Man Gumball… I don't think I know anyone your size that can take that many bee stings and still stand."

"Thanks Carrie… It's good to know that if bees attempt to take over the world I'll be the last one dead. What's next?"

"Let's see…"

()()()() Time Lapse ()()()()()

After eight hours of working and Gumball getting attacked by bees whenever he opens something, they were finally down to their last two chores.

"Ok the last two: organize the attic and pull the weeds out of the garden… We have a garden?"

"Yeah don't you remember? Dad took up gardening originally as a joke and then found out that he enjoys it."

"Your dad likes gardening?" Carrie asked surprised.

"There are a lot of things he likes that no one can explain why." Gumball shrugged.

"But back to what we were talking about. I say one of us pulls the weeds while the other two clean the attic."

"Dibs on the attic! I kind of want to see what's up there…" Carrie seemed genuinely interested in their attic.

"Well I'm definitely not staying outside with all these bees out here. I'm kind of sick of being stung all day…" Gumball said crossing his arms.

"_Dang it! I wanted to go with Carrie!" _Darwin thought to himself _"Well at least I don't have to worry about it. It's not like they have any feelings for each other." _ "Ok I'll get to work on the weeds! I'll come and help when I'm finished!"

"Ok bro. Finish it quickly so we don't have to do all the fun work.

"Gotcha!" As Darwin looked at the garden in the backyard and he saw how many weeds were in it. "For a gardener… Mr. Dad's pretty bad at keeping weeds out. Well… better get started!"

Meanwhile…

_***Creak***_

"Wow Gumball. I didn't know your attic was THIS dirty." Carrie said taking her first looks at Gumball's attic.

"Yeah… It's rare anyone else comes up here so we rarely clean it."

"Well we might as well get started…"

"Ha… where do we get started…?"

()()()()() 15 minutes later ()()()()() **(Using a lot of time lapses aren't I?)**

As Gumball and Carrie were moving boxes, Carrie noticed something shiny

"There! Finally finished!" Darwin said as he ripped every weed from the garden… and most of the flowers… He walked inside and began to go upstairs…

As Carrie reached to remove the object she quickly realized it was stuck.

"Come… on… you…piece…of…cr-AP!" The shiny object Carrie was trying to dislodge gave way and Carrie fell and twisted towards Gumball.

"Carrie!" Gumball was quick to catch her as she turned into him. As he caught her they both fell as Gumball tripped over a box and landed on the ground with Carrie landing directly on Gumball. Gumball and Carrie looked into each other's eyes as they were literally an inch from each other.

"Ahem!" This moment was immediately broken up by Darwin, to which Carrie and Gumball scrambled away from each other, red faced and all.

"Darwin it's not what it looks like!"

"I know. I heard the thud. I even saw Carrie fall on you." Gumball and Carrie sighed as the moment was made a little less awkward. "But I didn't like how long it took you two to get away from each other." And the awkwardness was back in force.

_***Ring* **_

"What's that?"

"My phone alarm. I had it set for the time I needed to leave. So I should be off. Later guys!" As Carrie climbed down and left, Darwin's gaze fell right on Gumball.

"Darwin. Like I said it wasn't like you saw it. I don't have any feelings for Carrie." Gumball at this point wasn't sure himself but he needed to calm down Darwin or things would only get harder for him come homecoming.

"Ok. I'm going to let it slide for now. But if I see any more of you two like that I'm gonna take out my rage on you! Carrie is my girl! Besides, you have Penny don't you?" Gumball nodded to keep Darwin away from the truth. As Darwin went back down stairs, leaving Gumball behind, Gumball ran three questions in his head

"_How to I stop Darwin from being jealous and have Carrie go with me to the homecoming?_

"_Is Penny the only one for me anymore?"_

"…_Do I like Carrie that way…?"_

As Gumball pondered this throughout the day as Darwin wouldn't talk to him and Anais was dead tired from all the work that day even though they got the easy half of the work. Gumball took a shower and then went to bed early, tired and sore from a day that may just be a warning of what's to come…

**A/N The plot thickens… And we have a love interest identified! Yay! Can't wait for the hate mail from the Gumball + Teri fans that suddenly spawned out of nowhere… Seriously has anyone else noticed this? Plz tell me that I'm not the only one getting this because this is getting scary and in some cases annoying. **

**Why Gumball and Carrie? I like this couple more than Gumball and Penny for this reason: It's a relationship that is technically impossible and I like relationships like that because the conflict is in the relationship itself. Although I basically made it possible almost immediately as I gave Carrie a physical form. Oh well! My story, my rules! If you can't understand that then get the hell off of Fanfiction!**

**Took me a while but I think this will do. Since this chapter had only 1 purpose I decide might as well add some gags to make it a bit longer.**

**Till I finish something else: review, fav, follow, VOTE for the poll on my profile, and all that good stuff and I'll see you guys next time! Sal out!**


	6. Secret's Out

**A/N Sal Here and he's got story!**

**Finally got around to this… sorry I just got preoccupied…**

**Next thing I want to address. No doubt you've probably saw EvelioandZgroup review for this story. As much as I love the new 4 out of 4 rating (Booyah!), anyone who has read the review would probably see the biggest problem with it in the second sentence. Gumball and Teri… let me repeat that: Gumball and TERI. Teri is never mention in the whole story! But here's why he said it: Apparently, I have made a Teri version of Gumball. Can someone confirm this, because for something like this I need more than one opinion.**

**Anyway, enough of that, how's "Terball" doing. Lol.**

_**Ch. 6 Secrets Out**_

**Monday:** **Oct. 14th 8.30 A.M. 12 days out…**

It was time for school again, as all the students piled onto the bus to go to school. Gumball noticed Penny, but saw that she made no effort to greet Gumball.

"Hey Penny!" Penny didn't react beyond a hand wave as she appeared to have something on her mind. Something that Gumball couldn't possible understand. "What's wrong? Where did you go on Saturday?"

"Gumball, no offence but I'd like to be alone." Penny's voice was slightly monotone, but Gumball couldn't pick it up.

"Oh… okay." Gumball got up and sat down with Darwin, who was still a bit sore with Gumball. But his goldfish memory would make him forget soon enough.

"Wonder what's up with Penny?" Darwin's cold demeanor softened.

"Maybe something happened that she's not ready to talk about with someone else."

"Maybe…" Gumball said as he looked around to see Tobias was not on the bus. "Dude… Tobias isn't on."

"Would you be if you've made enemies like paper airplanes?"

"I would, because I don't care what my enemies could do." Carrie said, as she raised her head above the seat.

"Hey Carrie!" Gumball said with a hint of enthusiasm, as she was so far the only real friend that wasn't sore with him.

"Hey Carrie!" Darwin… not so much.

"Hey Carrie, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, what?"

"Can you find out what's wrong with Penny? She won't talk to me and I can't get her to tell me what happened on Saturday. I think Tobias might have done something to her."

"Gumball, I seriously doubt that Tobias would. Maybe I should look into it." Carrie said, looking in Penny's direction. It appeared that Penny wasn't aware of the conversation, as she was about two seats away from her. Considering you could barely hear the person next to you it wasn't surprising to Carrie that Penny heard nothing.

"I'll do it!"

"Try not to alert her to what you're really trying to do, as I'd rather avoid an awkward incident."

"Yeah, two in two days would be pretty bad." Darwin said reentering the conversation."

"Will you let it go already? I thought guys didn't hold grudges…"

"We don't… for more than two days. Although in Darwin's case, his goldfish memory won't let him have a grudge for more than six hours, so he should be fine later." Gumball said, smirking at Darwin. Carrie and Gumball began to chuckle at the joke and finally, Darwin loosened up and began to chuckle too. As the bus pulled up to the front of the school and everyone went to class, Gumball continued to look for Tobias. He wasn't in class, wasn't at lunch, or his favorite class gym.

"Darwin?" Gumball asked

"Yeah?"

"Have you seen Tobias at all today?"

"No. I don't even think he's here bro. Maybe you should just chill, because you're starting to look a bit obsessed with Tobias." Darwin replied.

"Yeah, maybe you're right…"

_***Final School Bell Rings***_

"Come on man, I'm sure if we just go home that everything will be just fine."

"Yeah, maybe…" As the two left for home, they had no idea what was going on at Carrie's end.

()()()()() Meanwhile with Carrie ()()()()()

Carrie had been following Penny around like a shadow: Blending into the background by using the other students to stay out of sight, Penny walked around the school suspiciously between classes. Taking routes that made no sense, to the point where she was going the exact wrong way to class. Now with school over, Carrie having nothing on Penny. She thought Gumball was just paranoid, until Penny, instead of getting on the bus, started walking towards the other way from her house.

"_Where are you going Penny? Your house is the other way." _As Carrie continued to follow Penny, using whatever she could to stay out of sight, Penny suddenly stopped at the sound of a voice that Carrie hated to hear.

"Ah Penny, my dear, your early!" It was Tobias as he walked up to Penny and she did what Carrie thought she'd never see… Penny hugging AND kissing Tobias!

"_Penny… why… why would you betray Gumball…"_ Now Carrie was irate, but couldn't afford to get seen, now that she had to find out why Penny is suddenly Tobias' girlfriend.

"So what did I miss?" Tobias said, as the two began to walk to his house with Carrie still in pursuit.

"Quite boring I must say. Gumball doesn't suspect a thing."

"Good! Because if this is to work, he needs to be oblivious of our plan and everything around it."

"The end will be here soon. We're being followed."

"_How did she know I was here?!" _But that was the least of her worries, as Tobias pulled out a small ray gun. The same one that brainwashed Penny.

_"Time to run!" _Carrie took off in a sprint out of the bush as she tried to run home, all the while trying not to get shot in the back. _"I have to get to Gumball… Tobias has lost his mind!"_

"We have to go after her!"

"NO!" Said a mysterious voice. Both Tobias and Penny turned around and Textegear behind them, still draped in his cloak. "Let her go. Who's gonna believe her? Even if Gumball was aware of everything, what could he do to stop it? I've personally taken care of him."

"But…"

"No buts! We must make ready for the ceremony." With that, the three disappeared through the black portal.

As Carrie made her way to the Watterson house, she could hear an ambulance siren in the distance. When she could see the Watterson house, she saw the ambulance pulling away. She could see the entire Watterson family… except for Gumball and Darwin.

"_Oh no…" _Carrie took off to the family who were preparing to go to the hospital. "What happened?!"

"We don't know. Anais just found Gumball and Darwin laid out on the lawn. We're heading to the hospital to see them." Nicole said getting into the car.

"Let me go with you please!"

"Hmm… Ok get in." As they drove to the hospital, no one said anything as they were too worried about Gumball and Darwin.

But the worst had yet to come…

**A/N So Carrie now knows what's going on… sort of and Gumball and Darwin are in a hospital.**

**Hated writing this but I just need to push past it.**

**Till next time: review, fav, follow, VOTE for the poll on my profile, and all that good stuff and I'll see you guys next time! Sal out!**


	7. Memories of Transfromation

**A/N Hi guys… Sal Here and he's super sorry he hasn't updated this story in 5 months… I don't have an excuse and won't try to make one up so plz just don't hate me…**

_**Ch. 7 Memory of Transformation**_

The Wattersons and Carrie were following the ambulance to the hospital in silence. Nicole was driving but was also on the edge of her seat fearing for her sons' safety. Carrie was just as concerned for Gumball and Darwin's well-being. She didn't get a look at what they looked like after Anais found them. Her uneasiness was at an all-time high considering everything…

Penny kissing someone she openly despised, Tobias holding a ray gun, a plan that involves Gumball who, along with Darwin, were both injured the instant Carrie was beginning to get somewhere with Penny's new attitude.

"_Penny betrayed Gumball… and he doesn't even know it yet…"_ Carrie thought. But then a new question hit her mind. _"If I told him… no… If anyone told him, would he believe them?" _

"Hey Carrie," Before she could ponder this thought any further, her train of thought is derailed by Anais. "Are you ok?"

"I'm just worried for the guys, that's all…" Carrie wasn't exactly lying… but she didn't think anyone would care if she kept a few matters to herself for the time being. Anais wasn't convinced but the circumstances didn't need an interrogation.

"I am too… I can't believe this is happening." Anais sat back and stared at the back of the driver seat.

"If you don't mind me asking… how did the guys look when you found them?" Anais paused for a moment as the memory wasn't something she wanted to see ever again. She pushed through and finally spoke, albeit with some difficultly.

"Grim… j-just grim…" That vague answer only made Carrie worry even more. "The only think I could compare it to is t-they looked like they were fell into a bin full of razor blades… j-just cuts everywhere… t-they didn't look that deep b-but…" The little bunny girl finally broke down in tears… It must have taken so much will just to hold back her tears for this long. Carrie reached an arm over and comforted the poor girl.

"Don't worry girls," Richard spoke. "The boys will make it through this." Though Richard sounded sure, that didn't make his true feelings go away as he and Nicole were just as worried as they were.

They finally arrived at the hospital and pulled in. Everyone immediately got out of the car and ran for the emergency room lobby. They were greeted by a receptionist who was all too familiar with the Watterson family

"Oh Nicole! Is Gumball injured again?" The kind woman asked.

"Um… yes... but also Darwin is too… How are they?" All of them were anxious to get an answer.

"I don't know… but I can check! Just wait in the lobby and I'll see if I can get you any information."

"Thank you!" Nicole said as they all sat down in the lobby. It wasn't as busy as the last few times they've had to come here… though it had been a long time as Gumball's antics became less frequent.

As they waited for information on Gumball and Darwin, Carrie started to think of some of her best memories with the duo, including when they first met. Carrie chuckled at remembering her stealing Gumball's body and using it like a glutton in a donut shop. The part where she made him eat a flip-flop was still gross to her but still kind of funny. Though probably her favorite memory was when they helped her acquire her very own body, though it was a bit furry for her liking, it grew on her as time when by…

_***Flashback… June 21st, 8:00 p.m.***_

Carrie, who seemed to grow in her ghost form over the past two years, was floating around her house, waiting for something…

_***Ding Dong***_

She floated over to the front door and phased through it, startling the blue cat and orange fish.

"AHHH!" Gumball yelped as he and his brother fell on their butts, causing Carrie to giggle a little. They were both dressed in their normal attire with Gumball wearing his new favorite hoodie as it was actually pretty cold out that night for summer standards.

"Ooo, hot crowd," Carrie said with a smirk. "I'm glad to see you two as well." Darwin was the first to his feet as Gumball soon picked himself up and rubbed his butt in pain.

"We got all the stuff you needed!" Darwin said holding up the bag they brought.

"Good! Then we should be all set!" Carrie flew through the door as Gumball and Darwin followed after opening it. They followed to her room in the attic to see what Carrie had been doing all day.

A ring of chalk full of inscriptions was drawn into her floor. They set the contents of the bag where she instructed them while she prepared a book. Candles, various object including flowers, a potted plant, and other things.

"So what is this supposed to do again? You weren't very generous with the details." Carrie remembered that she didn't really tell them what she was doing.

"I wanted to get back at Tobias for what he did to today," Carrie said in a dark tone as she set the book down. "I think the best way to do that is to scare him silly!" Gumball remembered what Tobias did to Carrie earlier, just before she asked for all of this stuff. They had an argument when they saw Tobias (being the bully he is) tormenting little kids.

_***Flashback***_

"_Tobias! Stop that! Do you realize you're hurting this kid's feelings?!"_

"_Feelings?! What do you know about feelings?! When's the last time you've ever shown any emotion to anyone?! You're not even alive!"_

Darwin attempted to punch out Tobias but like the snake he was, he ran away before he could.

"_Hey guys?" _Carrie spoke. _"I need your help with something…"_

_***End Flashback***_

"So what will this spell do exactly?" Darwin asked.

"If everything goes the way I want it, it should summon a phantom monster to "attack" Tobias," Carrie said with air quotes. "Though we have to be careful. Another spell calls for these ingredients and is only a few syllables different." Carrie was busy lighting the candles while Gumball picked up the book.

"What does that one do?" Gumball asked as he looked at the book. He turned the page to the spell in question.

"I don't know. The page is smudged on the description so I'm not sure what it does. Maybe we can test it another day but for right now let's stick to our plan," Carrie flew over and took the book from Gumball. But before Carrie could do anything, she noticed one of the flowers go out of place. "Ugh! Why can't anything stay where I want it?!" She flew over to fix the flower when the ring started to glow. "Huh?!" A portal began to form in the circle as Carrie tried to get out of the way but couldn't as the candles activated a barrier that prevented her escape. "LET ME OUT! AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Carrie was then sucked into the portal and disappeared. Gumball and Darwin just stared at where Carrie used to be until Darwin looked at Gumball.

"WHAT'D YOU DO?!" Darwin shouted at the top of his lungs with tears in his eyes, thinking he just lost his girlfriend.

"Nothing! I-I just mouth the words to the spell…" Gumball was on the verge of tears himself as he just sent his friend to who knows where. Suddenly the ring began to glow again. This time it was so bright they had to shield their eyes. Once the glow died down and they could look again, they didn't see the ghost they were so used to… but instead they saw a white wolf that looked about their age. She was wearing a white dress and a hairpin with her hair covering her left eye.

"C-Carrie?" Gumball was the first to vocally make the recognition. Suddenly, Carrie began to stir.

"Hmm… Gumball…? Darwin…? What happened…?" Carrie pushed her hand against the floor to help her sit up. She immediately realized she could feel the floor. She looked at her hands to see that she couldn't see through them anymore. She could feel her heartbeat and her breathing… and immediately looked like she was going to panic. But then it hit her… What Tobias said that day had now become false… She was alive…

"I'm… I'm alive… I'm alive!" She began to laugh which made Gumball feel a little better as she probably wouldn't hold it against her. He and Darwin soon joined in the laughter.

_***End Flashback***_

Gumball was the one who helped put her memory of the event all back in place as her memory was foggy after what happened. She couldn't remember anything that happened after falling into the portal but it was all behind her now. Now she could actually enjoy herself and the new life she'd been given. It even changed her as she was much less glum about everything and smiled a whole lot more. And it was all thanks to Gumball's own incompetence… but she was willing to let it slide.

She sat back in her chair to see the Watterson family still incredibly worried. She looked to the clock to see about twenty minutes had passed since they got there and still no word. Until…

"I have good news!" They all looked to the receptionist. "They'll both pull through but they will have to be in the hospital for the night. The cuts were all superficial and there was no risk for anything serious!" The receptionist smiled as everyone let out a sigh of relief.

"They should be safe to see them right about now. Would you like to?" Everyone nodded as they got up to see Gumball and Darwin.

_***Meanwhile… in some strange dimension…***_

Tobias and Penny continue to follow Textegear through a strange place where the entire place is the same gray color.

"Alright Textegear! Where are we?!" Tobias demanded, though Textegear was as calm as he's ever been.

"Impatient, aren't we?" Textegear stopped walking and turned to face them. "We are in a special place, one between light and darkness.

"So, any reason why you brought us here?" Penny asked.

"Yes. It is almost time," Textegear pulls out a piece of paper. "On here is a list of instructions. Follow them completely." Tobias nods as he puts the paper away.

"We won't fail you."

"You better not." Textegear gestured towards nothing when another portal appeared. "Hop to it…" Textegear said in a diabolical voice.

"What about you?" Penny asked as Tobias went through first.

"I have one more thing I need to deal with elsewhere… Don't worry." With that, Penny left through the portal after Tobias, their mission set for destruction…

**A/N Vagueness levels at an all-time high!**

**Also when's the last time you've seen a flashback in the flashback!  
**

**Anyway let's answer some guest reviews.**

**Guest #1: Well the way I portrayed her, I'd be shocked if you still did.**

**Guest #2: Well I'm glad we've reached an agreement. **

**Marcelinefan: Ok I'm going to try to answer all of these: 1. Maybe I worded that a bit weird but she just hid in the crowds! She didn't possess anyone! 2: We'll get there. Don't worry. 3: If I told you, you'd never believe me. 4: Brainwashing. Is that not a good enough excuse for Penny?! 5: IDK?! I'm not a mind reader! Oh and you are right, I am hiding facts between the lines. Though considering I cause more plot twist then a Tennessee twister, you're not predicting anything!**

**Guest #3: I don't really understand "random jumps of Fanfiction"? What like Fanfiction for the Fanfiction? And cliffhangers… yeeeaaaaahhh I tend to do that.**

**Thank you to Neo for his help!**

**Till next time: review,** **fav, follow, and all that good stuff and I'll see you guys next time! Sal out!**


	8. All I Needed

_**Ch. 8: All I Needed**_

As Carrie and the Wattersons followed the receptionist to Gumball and Darwin's room, the tension and anticipation grew as they neared the room.

"Room 211… This is it." The receptionist said as she opened the door and then left for her post. They all walked in and stopped dead when they got their newest look at the boys' conditions. They saw the boys wrapped up in bandages and asleep but they were ecstatic that they were okay.

"Who would do this to them?" Nicole said weakly as she looked at the boys.

"Nmmmmg…" They were all startled as Gumball began to stir and open his eyes… "What…? Oh… Hey guys…" Gumball said trying to sit up in his bed before the pain forced him back down.

"Gumball! What happened?!" Gumball thought it over for a moment.

"I don't even know how to describe what happened…" Gumball finally said weakly.

"What do you mean?" Carrie asked.

"Well…"

_***Flashback 2 hours ago***_

Gumball and Darwin were walking down the street to go home. Anais would be riding the bus home as her school was across town. The two were arguing over them missing the bus.

"I can't believe you made us miss the bus!" Gumball exclaimed to his brother.

"It's not my fault that the closet locked itself!" Darwin shouted back.

"Not your fault?! How'd you get into a locked closet to begin with?!"

"I don't know!"

_***Pwoof***_

Gumball and Darwin's arguing came to a halt at the sound and looked in its direction. There they say a man dressed in all black with a hood up to prevent them from seeing his face.

"Can we help you?" Gumball asked. The man didn't respond with words. He instead raised his hand and pointed his finger at Darwin, causing him to flinch and his eyes to widen. Soon he began to tremble.

"Darwin…?" Suddenly, Darwin began to radiate a fiery red aura as did the hooded man's hand. Gumball moved in front of his brother to look into his eyes… only to be smacked in the face by the back of Darwin's fin. "What was that for?!" Gumball turned around to see the man had disappeared.

"Where'd he go?!" Gumball looked back only to see Darwin swing an orange translucent sword fly right by his head, leaving a small cut on his cheek. "OW!" Gumball jumped back from his brother who had fully lost his mind.

"Bro… Calm down… Put the sword d-"Gumball didn't even finish before Darwin started unleashing a flurry of attacks on Gumball. Gumball wasn't the best at dodging the attacks as the most he could do was limit the damage that Darwin actually did.

"_I've got to stop this!" _Gumball took off for his house with Darwin in hot pursuit. Gumball arrived at his house and looked around desperately for something to fight back with. He finally saw something metallic and picked it up. Darwin finally caught up with him and attacked but Gumball turned around blocked it in time.

"Sorry bro…" Gumball tilted the pipe and slid the blade off of it and followed it up…

_***Thunk***_

…With a swift blow across Darwin's head, causing him to stagger. Gumball couldn't look at his brother when he dealt the strike but when he looked back the sword that Darwin was holding shattered and knocked both of them back, causing cuts to form on Darwin as well as knocking out Gumball. Both of them laid there on the lawn till Anais finally came home.

_***End Flashback***_

As Gumball finished his story, everyone in the room was understandably shocked but also in disbelief. Though the disbelief was minor as their numerous misadventures have proven things like this can happen, especially to them.

"What kind of person would do this to you guys?!" Anais asked wide-eyed at the story. Gumball shrugs until it suddenly hits him:

"_**A man by the name of Textegear who wants to ensure for his bosses that a prophecy is not fulfilled… A prophecy… involving you."**_

Gumball finally put the pieces together to figure out who that man was… It was Textegear!

Gumball remained silent for the longest time before finally speaking,

"I don't know… no one I know could do what I saw happen…" Gumball had to lie… he could risk his family getting into this. The guilt and loss would eat him away. Everyone didn't exactly believe he was telling the truth (except Richard who would believe anything) but decided to let it go for another time. Gumball and Darwin were okay and they can figure out whom to beat the crap out of later.

They all look to Darwin who was covered in less bandages then Gumball was. Apparently, Darwin's condition was better and more stable than Gumball's was when they came in.

Suddenly Darwin began to stir and open his eyes, much to everyone's relief.

"Ngggh… what happened...?" Darwin asked, looking around to see he was in a hospital.

"You don't remember?" Nicole asked.

"Nope… I was walking with Gumball and we were arguing about us missing the bus… and then nothing." Nicole explained what happened after that, much to Darwin's shock.

"I DID WHAT?!" Darwin practically screamed after hearing the story. "No… that couldn't have happened!"

"That's what Gumball said happened." Richard explained, having finally caught up with all the events. Darwin looked at Gumball hoping he was joking. He never looked more serious in his life.

"I don't believe it…" As Darwin laid back down, everyone sat in silence for the longest time. After a while, Darwin fell asleep and Nicole noticed the time and decided that it was time that they left. She went to a nurse and found out the boys couldn't leave till tomorrow. She came back and looked at everyone.

"Time to go everyone. Do you want a ride home, Carrie?" Nicole asked.

"No thank you, Mrs. Watterson. I think I'll stay a little longer." Carrie said, coolly sitting back in her chair. The Wattersons left soon afterward, leaving Carrie alone with Gumball and Darwin… but mostly Gumball.

Her smile faded as she got out of her chair and moved it to the side of Gumball's bed.

"Okay, Gumball… Tell me the truth right now." Gumball was caught and he knew it. "Tobias attacked me with some sort of gun and I know he couldn't have gotten it without some sort of help." Gumball eyes widened as he heard what happened. "I'm smart enough to put the pieces together. You know what's going on and I'm not leaving until I hear the truth!"

Gumball knew she was serious but he still hesitated in telling the full truth. Finally he realizes that Carrie deserves the truth and decides to tell her everything he knows.

"Alright… but if you don't believe me, that's your problem…" He tells her about the dream he had a few days ago and explains everything that he was told by Clockwerek... all the way down to what Tobias was going to do, not to trust Penny, the homecoming, the end of the world, Textegear, Carrie's silhouette everything! As Gumball explained the story, Carrie's expression never changed as she listened to the near impossible story. Once the story finished, Carrie sat back in her chair and sighs before starting to laugh quietly.

"I have to say Gumball… I've heard of some far-fetched stories in my afterlife and my new life. But yours… it's the only one where the logic actually adds up to an extent that I can believe you…" Gumball was shocked… he didn't think she would be convinced this easily. "I still think the story is almost impossible for anyone to believe… but that's to people who don't live the life you have. But I don't think some omnipotent controller of time appeared in your dreams and told YOU of all people to be the last hope of our world and then selected me to help you through it all!" Carrie was almost laughing

"Well when you put it like that…" Gumball felt a little saddened that Carrie didn't believe him as much as he would have liked. But then Gumball had a question of his own, "You said that Tobias attacked you… what happened exactly?" Carrie explained what happened but then came the difficult part…

"But there's one thing you should probably know…" Gumball tilted his head a little, "While I was watching them… Tobias and Penny… kissed." Gumball's heart sank like lead. He didn't want to believe it… but then it was Clockwerek again who made Gumball come to another revelation,

"_**One last thing. Don't trust anything Penny tells you from this point on. It will be a lie and will bring your doom before the homecoming even gets here."**_

Gumball knew Carrie was telling the truth… that Clockwerek was real and so was what he said… but that made it feel just that much worse.

"No…No…" Tears began to form in Gumball's eyes as he began to break down. He punched the bed in frustration as he finally broke. Carrie could only watch as she had never seen Gumball cry before. She sat and watched for a good minute before she finally decided to do something… and that something was to give Gumball a hug.

She threw an arm around him and just held him. The suddenness of the hug caused Gumball to stop crying. He didn't look up at Carrie right away as he… enjoyed the hug as it was kind of what he needed at the time. Just someone to hold him. When he finally stopped crying, Carrie let go of him and sat back in her chair, sort of embarrassed she just did that.

"T-thanks but… why did you just hug me?"

"I had to get you to stop crying somehow? Would you have preferred a punch in the shoulder or slap across the face?" Carrie said shrugging with a warm smile, which was something Carrie did more often since she got her body. Gumball couldn't help but laugh at the alternatives.

"No thanks, I'd rather have the hug!" Carrie herself began to laugh.

_***Knock Knock***_

The two looked towards the door to see the nurse walk in.

"Excuse me, Miss. I'm afraid that visiting hours are over and I'm going to have to ask you to leave." The nurse said with a slightly sad face.

"Okay, give me a minute." Carrie said sitting up. The nurse left and waited outside the room to escort Carrie out.

"Be careful getting home, Carrie…"

"I think you're the one who needs to be careful. But don't worry about me… Just focus on what we're going to need to fix later. See ya tomorrow!" Carrie said with a wave goodbye.

"See ya!" Gumball said with a wave of his own, leaving him alone. He looked at the clock and decided he might as well get some sleep.

As Carrie walked home, she had a bright smile stuck on her face… and rightfully so…

Because Gumball could be hers…

**A/N UKS: Making stories up as he goes along since July 2012!  
**

**Another chapter down… and we're still so far from the end…**

**This won't be the longest story I've written but it will be a while before we actually get to the end… and I mean the final end.**

**Random question: If you were to pick a song to be this story's theme, what would you pick? Just asking.**

**Also to those who use the guest review: Apparently if you sign into the mobile version of this site, it will turn off guest reviews if you moderate your reviews like I do. So to anyone who couldn't get a review out, I'm super sorry because I didn't realize that could happen.**

**Anyway: Till next time, Sal out! (ya I'm done saying the middle part)**


	9. Impromptu Date

_**Ch. 9 Impromptu Date **_

**Friday: Oct. 18th 3:30 A.M. 8 days left till Homecoming… in a really dark room…**

"Textegear," A voice broke through the darkness to the cloaked entity. "May I ask you for something?" Textegear turned to face the voice.

"What do you want, Penny?" Textegear asked curiously.

"The power to destroy Gumball…"

**Meanwhile in parts known…**

_*Ring!*_

As the last bell of the day finally rang, everyone in the school rushed out as the weekend had arrived. Though not everyone was happy for the weekend to appear.

Gumball, Darwin, and Carrie were the only ones not in a hurry to get anywhere as they boarded the bus and rode home in silence as they thought about what happened at school the whole week after Monday; Tobias and Penny never showed up and nobody seemed to notice it, as if they never came to the school. Though Gumball, Darwin, and Carrie did notice and this put them on edge.

The rest of the week proceeded without any surprise attacks, sudden mind control, or laser attacks. It seemed like any other week that Gumball has lived through. That only made him feel worse as while they had no plan, Tobias was scheming up more and more ways to eliminate them.

"Hey Gumball," Gumball turned away from the window that he was focusing so intently on to look at his concerned brother. "You doing okay, man?"

"Sorry Darwin, my mind was somewhere else. I'm fine now." Gumball said unconvincingly.

"Are you sure Gumball? You look quite distant back there." Darwin couldn't help but think it had something to do with what happened earlier in the week.

As the Watterson brothers continued their discussion, Carrie, on the other hand, was deeply bothered by what had happened to them for the last few days, whether it was seeing Tobias and Penny together to Gumball and Darwin suffering several injuries.

_'Those two don't deserve what's been happening,' _Carrie thought to herself._ 'But as long as Tobias is on his twisted crusade to destroy them... that's all they'll have to look forward to.'_

Carrie pulled herself from her thoughts when the bus came to their bus stop to let them off. Everyone got off the bus and headed home while Carrie decided to tag along with Gumball and Darwin to keep them company. She walked on the left of Gumball away from the street with Darwin on the other side and Gumball in the middle between them.

"Are you two feeling alright?" You both have been pretty quiet lately." Darwin noted, before turning his attention to his brother. "Gumball, are you still upset on what happened on Monday? I swear I really don't have any memories of that incident."

"...Yeah, I'm still a bit down by that," Gumball admitted. Darwin was slightly happy that he was right but that faded once he realized that didn't help matters at all.

'_Gumball has been like this since we left the hospital,' _Darwin began to think. _'Also, Tobias and Penny have disappeared completely and no one even notices… Connection? But how? Maybe I should ask him.' _But before the goldfish could open his mouth to speak, Gumball cut him off.

"Listen guys, I want to be alone for a little while if that's okay with you." Gumball didn't even wait for an answer as he left and took off for the nearby park to be alone.

"Gumball, wait!" Carrie called out for him to stop but he wasn't stopping any time soon. Darwin was about to take off after him before he was stopped by Carrie. "Let me go talk to him, Darwin. I don't think he'll talk to both of us." This seemed to light something in Darwin but he held it back.

"Then why don't I just talk to him?" He asked, knowing he probably won't like the answer. Carrie turned away quickly before answering with a slight blush on her face.

"Because you've never been the best with word choice in certain situations." Carrie took off after Gumball leaving Darwin confused... but not only that angry but he couldn't figure out why.

Carrie ran as fast as she can, as the wolf spotted the blue feline sitting on the swing, gloomily looking down on the ground. Concerned for his well-being, Carrie approached Gumball with genuine concern.

"Gumball, are you alright?" She asked, taking a seat in the swing next to him.

"Carrie, the last few days have been crazy and I don't know what to make of it." Gumball replied. "First the dream, then you told me that Penny left for Tobias and now some weirdo in black forced Darwin to kill me. I don't know how much more I could take of this. It's like the whole world had suddenly turned against me."

Carrie looked at Gumball with sympathy in her eyes. Even though she doesn't completely understand what's going on, she understood the stress that the blue feline is going through She had to figure out a way to cheer him up.

"Gumball, even if it seems the whole world is against you, you still have people like your family members and me as well who will be by your side when you need them most." Carrie said, trying to assure Gumball that all was not lost.

"One of my family members was almost the death of me,"Gumball began his retort. "And it was the person I thought was closer to me than anyone.

"Darwin doesn't even remember what happened to him," Carrie began sternly. "You can't blame him for what happened." Carrie matched Gumball's response with one of her own.

"_*Sigh* _you're right." Gumball admitted.

"Of course I'm right. I know you've been through a lot and you're stressed out but you can't shut those who are trying to help you out. It'll only make things worse." Gumball thought about Carrie's words for a moment before standing up with a smile on his face for the first time in a while.

"Carrie, you're right!" Gumball exclaimed with a new determination. "If I'm going to stop Tobias, I can't be moping around!"

Once Carrie made certain that Gumball was in a good mood, the two decided that it was best to just head home and relax, all the while talk about random subjects to take their mind off of all the craziness. But after what seemed like forever, it was then the two were on top of a hill, far beyond Elmore.

"Wow, this was totally unexpected." Carrie commented trying to figure out how they managed to get there.

"Maybe it's for the best." Gumball stated. Gumball turned towards the horizon. "Besides, we came just at the right time to admire the sunset from here." Carrie turned to the sunset to see how beautiful it looked over the town.

"Wow," Carrie managed to breathe out. "I've rarely ever seen a sunset like this…" Carrie sat down to admire it while Gumball sat down next to her.

Without realizing what she was going, the wolf rested her head right next to Gumball, much to his surprise.

"What are you doing?" asked Gumball, as he jumped up in surprise.

Carrie immediately got up, her face turned bright red with embarrassment, before she respond to the blue feline's question. Carrie was desperate for any believable response.

"I was just tired! Yeah, that's right. I was sleepy, that's all." Carrie finally managed to spit out.

Gumball looked at the wolf, somewhat suspicious of her claim. At the same time, he was somewhat relieved to hear that answer.

"I guess that makes perfect sense."

'_Whew… Dodged a bullet…'_ Carrie thought to herself. They both turned back to the sunset as it was finally ending.

After it ended, Gumball stood up and helped Carrie to her feet, causing a slight blush but it was too dark for Gumball to really see it. They were about to leave when they spotted someone blocking the way they came and also shocking both of them. The being was in a black cloak like Textegear though this time the hood was off and the identity was in full view. The being was also too short to be the one that attacked Gumball.

"P-Penny?" Gumball barely managed to breathe out before she suddenly charged at them faster than they could process.

Shocked and speechless by this, Gumball and Carrie couldn't move a muscle, as Penny plows right at them. Before the two could have a chance to recover, Penny appeared several feet behind them in a matter of seconds.

"How did she do that?" asked Gumball.

"I don't know and I don't want to find out." Carrie replied, before the deer forms rainbow colored translucent knives out of nowhere and proceeded to launched right at them.

"LOOKOUT!" Carrie shouted as she dove and pushed Gumball, causing them both to land on the ground with her on top of him. "Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine, thanks to you…" Gumball managed to get out before Penny's cut him off.

"Aw… Look at that," Penny finally spoke with a bit of insanity. "You two would make such a cute couple… if I didn't have to exterminate you…" If there was anything that could make Gumball feel worse right now, it was that. Everything about Penny that Carrie said was true; she had betrayed him.

"Gumball! You have to get ahold of yourself!" Carrie shouted, seeing the pain in his eyes. Though she might as well have been talking to a rock as her words do nothing to get a reaction out of Gumball, as if the shock of Penny's attempt at attack was enough kill him. Carrie sees Penny walking slowly towards them and immediately stands in front of her, blocking her path to Gumball.

"Don't you dare take another step!" Carrie shouted at Penny.

Penny, however, was undaunted by the wolf's action and forming a rainbow laser sword from her hand, the deer was about to thrust it right towards them, until...

_'NO! I won't do it!'_

All of a sudden, Penny stopped dead in her tracks, unable to move her body, much to the surprise and curiosity of Gumball and Carrie.

"What's going on? Why did Penny react like that?" asked Carrie.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, we need to do something." Gumball replied. "Penny, if you're in there, fight it off."

"That's right, you can do it Penny!" said Carrie.

"Arg… Ugh… AHHHHHH!" Penny screamed in pain as she clutched her head and backed up towards the ledge. She suddenly started to pant and regain her composure…

…only to meet Carrie's foot kicking her off the cliff and down the steep hillside.

"Come on! We've got to go before she gets back!" Carrie shouted as she grabbed Gumball and practically dragged him to safety.

After about twenty minutes of nonstop running, they finally made it to Gumball's house. The two looked around to see if they were followed. They both sighed heavily in relief and fell on the lawn, exhausted for running so far.

"What do we do now?" asked Carrie.

"Honestly, I don't know." Gumball replied. "All I know is that everything is going exactly Tobias wants it to be. He's always one step ahead of us. What we need is to come up with a way to strike back."

"Don't worry Gumball; I know you can do it." Carrie assured the blue feline. "When you do, Tobias will never see it coming."

Gumball nodded his head in agreement, his head held up high with confidence, knowing full well that he can fully trust the wolf.

"So Carrie..." Gumball began, rubbing his head sheepishly. "Do you want to come in and sleep for the night?"

"Sure, I am a bit tired." Carrie replied. "Are you sure your mom is alright with it?"

"Don't worry Carrie, my mom won't send you back home at this time." Gumball assured the wolf.

"Why can't she just drive me back home?" Carrie pointed.

Gumball flustered, his face turned bright red, trying to come up with an excuse. But then, he noticed the wolf giggling by his reaction, before she spoke.

"It's all good Gumball. Let's just go in and call it a day."

Gumball sighed with relief and let Carrie in, all the while thinking to himself about the wolf.

_'Do I really have a chance with her? Come to think of it, why am I behaving like that? Is it because Penny was taken from me? D-Did Carrie take her place?'_

All the thinking caused Gumball to give him a headache, prompting the blue feline to shake himself back to reality.

"I'll just put that aside for now. I need to get some shut eye."

As Gumball went to his bedroom to sleep, Nicole helped Carrie with her sleeping arrangement, handing the wolf two pillows and a spare blanket right next to a couch.

"Thanks for letting me sleep here for the night, Mrs. Watterson." Carried thanked her, as the older, blue feline smiled in response.

"It's no problem Carrie. I just wish that Gumball gave me a heads up next time." said Nicole. "Regardless, you go get some rest now."

With that, Nicole went upstairs to sleep, while Carrie lay down, still recalling what had happened to today, from her and Gumball watching the sunset on the hills to accepting his offer to stay at his house. It was then that there might be a reason behind all of it.

_'Is it possible that with Penny out of the picture that I might have taken her place?'_

As much as Carrie wanted to thank of this possibility, the wolf took a deep breath and sighed, realizing that it was just some wishful thinking.

_'Even so, I hope that is the case.'_ Carrie thought, before the wolf closed her eyes and sleep for the day.

**Meanwhile, Back in that really dark room…**

"I can't believe you failed! Even with the power to summon laser weapons you couldn't stop them?!" Tobias shouted, clearly not pleased with Penny.

"I'm sorry… I don't know what happened," Penny began to explain herself. "One second I had them right where I wanted them and the next I couldn't even think straight…" This now had Textegear's attention.

"So you were stopped by a headache?! Oh we're never gonna get rid of these guys…"

"That's enough, Tobias!" Tobias scoffed before turning to a table and turning on the lamp. Textegear turned back to Penny. "I don't want this loss to hold you back. Make it motivate you and get stronger," Penny nodded before Textegear motioned for her to leave. After Penny had left the room, Textegear turned to face Tobias "Tobias, we have a problem."

"What else is new?"

"No a serious problem. Penny; the real Penny is still very much alive." This shocked Tobias.

"That can't be! You told me the hypnosis ray was permanent!"

"I said no such thing," Textegear said matter-of-factly. "I told you that the hypnosis ray was extremely hard to break out of. It would take a lot more than just sheer will to completely break free… but to delay and interrupt an attack…? A completely different story."

"Then what's the point of using it if it's not a complete control over someone?" Tobias was getting frustrated. He couldn't get rid of Gumball and now Penny is trying to break free.

"Hypnosis is never perfect and can always be broken but right now we need to focus on Gumball," Textegear turned away to look towards his still open portal. "He must not make it to the Homecoming when the time is right."

"I know that, Captain Obvious!" Tobias shouted, hoping Textegear wouldn't keep spouting things he didn't already know. "And if you want him gone so badly, why don't you get rid of him!"

"I'll told you; my powers prevent me from directly attacking others. I need another to be my pawn. Just don't press your luck with me, Tobias. Just focus on Gumball and the ritual."

"I'm still trying to figure out what to try next. Give me time."

"That's not a luxury we have," Textegear said plainly, making his way to his portal. "And remember what happens if you fail…" With those ominous words, Textegear left and disappeared. To where was anyone's guess.

"It won't come to that…" Tobias began to himself. "I'll see to that myself…"

**A/N Sal is back after a… longish hiatus. **

**There are not enough thanks I can give to NeoNimbus for helping me get this done. Thanks man.**

**To those wondering where the heck I've been: Really I've been busy trying to finish up school. Right now it's my summer vacation before I have to go back for my senior year (yay).**

**To Guest Reviewers: I've got it fixed now. It should be all good to review now.**

**I think that's everything so till next time (and trust me it will be sooner), Sal out!**


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